Getting Used to a Different View
by Nature9000
Summary: After things have settled down, Emma finally has some time to fully process the reality of all the fairy tales she grew up using as a world to escape to during her life in terrible foster homes. She makes the decision to burn her old collection, but instead she chooses to share them with the town residents to see if it's possible to find a line between the fiction and the reality.


Getting Used to a Different View

Disclaimer: Don't own Once Upon a Time

A/N: This is kind of meant to be humorous and a little serious as well. It's set after the whole Neverland stage-for a reason which you'll see soon enough.

* * *

-STILL GETTING USED TO THIS-

Leaning on the side of her vehicle, Emma Swan stood before her new home, studying it closely. The adventure in Neverland was over, Henry was visiting with his grandparents, and she'd just returned from her trip back to her old apartment to collect her things. After almost a year in Neverland, she was finally ready to make her move official and buy herself an actual home, courtesy of Regina-the 'Evil Queen'.

"Time to get the fireplace ready," she breathed. Ever since their return, she'd been avoiding the townsfolk, but for good reason. Hook and Neal both were bold enough to show up at her house on occasion and ask her how she was doing-as did her parents of course. By some miracle, her father was able to be saved by some magic that Gold whipped up. Now that things were settling down, she was going to be able to fully process everything that she'd been discovering-aside from her same aged parents having been cursed for nearly thirty years.

With a deep breath, Emma pulled out a large sack of old movies and books she'd collected from her days bouncing about foster homes. Stories and shows of things that every little girl could ever dream about growing up, and with stunning irony, the very things that made her feel truly at home.

Gold always said everything came with a price, and at what cost did her arrival in Storybrooke come to? The only childhood she ever had were these books, these stories, and now that she _finally_ had some downtime, maybe she could relive them.

Or at the very least, she could hope to cope.

Upon arrival she phoned her grandparents to ensure Henry was doing all right, they said Regina was over to spend some time with him, but he'd fallen asleep on the couch and Regina was helping to make some pie. _Peach_, not _Apple_, praise the Lord above.

Her stomach tightened when she heard a dog's familiar bark. Her eyes drifted to the right and across the street, locking on Pongo, standing beside Archie. "It's a wonder there aren't a hundred tiny dogs running around town." She rushed into the house, closing the door behind her. She threw the sack of her book and movie collection onto her crème colored couch and tore off her leather jacket.

Never before had she coped with the fact that all these fairy tales were real and in existence. She had maybe a week at most to figure it out and a couple months before she finally accepted things as they were-but she _still_ had trouble even today imagining all these perplexing paradoxes.

How would she be able to say Mulan was one of her favorite princesses growing up? How could she say she was often bored with the story of _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,_ or that the Evil Queen she always thought was just vain and boring? Not to mention she could turn into an evil old hag according to the children's tales.

It never processed in her mind that she'd have the audacity to tell _Snow White_ herself-her own mother-that she thought she was one of the most boring princesses ever growing up.

Then there was another issue that was in the back of her mind. Captain Hook was vying for her in a romantic way. She raised an eyebrow as she sank into the sofa and stared at the empty fireplace, trying to process the thought. "_Captain Hook_, maybe he's not as hideous, but…Captain Hook?" Since _when_ was Hook _not_ the villain and Pan not the hero?

Her hand lifted absently to the side of her head and her nails scratched through her hair. "So who the hell came up with all these stories? They weren't very good…or accurate…" How was Little Red Riding Hood _the wolf_-and how was Granny the badass arrow shooting woman that should be destined to be eaten by the wolf. If the rule of children's fairy tales held fast, Granny should really consider watching out for her granddaughter.

Emma closed her eyes and began rubbing her temples to soothe the vicious pounding in her head. _Worse yet_, she'd always hated damsels in distress. Granted her mother wasn't a complete damsel like her fairy tale counterpart, but _she was still tricked!_ Still, she couldn't deny the small flicker of disappointment she felt when she heard her mom was Snow White. This, of course, was _before_ she knew that her mother was so different.

"Maybe I should have read Grimm's Fairy Tales growing up-but _no_, those gave me nightmares as a kid."

After several moments of silent contemplation, she finally started the fireplace and began unloading her favorite collection. In her hand first was the book of _Peter Pan_. Her fingers glossed over the glittery letters and childlike scribbles that remained a silent reminder to the only things that filled a void in her childhood.

"All lies…every one of you." She'd never look at Peter Pan the same way. She had to admit, the real world version of Captain Hook looked so much easier on the eyes than the children's tale.

A tiny smile hinted at her lips and she gently leaned her head to the right, opening the book with the tip of her thumb and glossing over the first page with her eyes. A misty glaze filled them as she read the message written in crayon beside the picture of the green clothed boy flying through the sky.

_One day I will fly like Peter Pan and I won't ever need any more mean old foster parents!_

She maybe had one good foster family that she actually liked, but that family had been unable to fully adopt her and she ended up going into a foster home that consisted of a drunken asshole father and a mother that let him do as he pleased. This was the typical foster family that she had-abusive, drunks, druggies, then finally that one good one that had her for a little under two years in which she went to the aforementioned family.

That was her foster family from the age of fourteen to the age of eighteen when she finally got the hell away-and when she met Neal. The words stung her and her heart clenched violently.

Or should she say, the son of Rumplestilkstin?

Now she hated the thought of destiny, because knowing even Neal was once part of a fairy tale, she felt like her entire fate was predestined. As a girl she always _dreamed _of her own Prince Charming to come take her away from foster families, now the thought of it disgusted her because Prince Charming was not only real-but her father. Not that she minded really, it was just the thought of having an ideal become more than just simple reality.

She, of course, felt that Neal had been that reality when she first met him.

"Enough of this." In one foul swoop, Emma tossed the Peter Pan storybook into the fire. As she listened to the crackling, she felt a sharp pang stab her heart. This was her closure, _this_ was how she processed and coped with it all being reality.

"Every girl should want it to be reality, but…I don't even know how to deal with it. I just-" Suddenly her front door swung wide open and she flinched to the right, glaring at the man intruding onto her privacy. "Don't you know how to knock, Neal?"

"I did a couple of times, you didn't answer."

"I didn't _hear_. What do you want?"

"Everyone has been worried." Neal looked at the sack on the couch, raised an eyebrow, then glanced to the smoldering fireplace. "What are you doing?"

"Burning my childhood," Emma replied matter-of-factly.

"Burning your-what?"

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes onto the fireplace. "Growing up all I had that separated me were the fairy tales. They comforted me, took me out into my own world." Neal already knew this-she'd been with him long enough that he knew more of her life than anyone else did. One of the things they talked about was her childhood, or lack thereof. "I told you I went home finally to collect my stuff from my old apartment and storage space-I opened up my favorite books and tried to watch my old movies-"

"Why?"

"To _calm down_…after Neverland, the whole thing with you and Hook-"

"Look Emma…" Neal pressed his lips together and sighed heavily. "I'm telling you, I'm not going to compete. He can fight all he wants, I'm just happy you and Henry are safe-that's all that matters. You can be with whoever makes you happy." She tucked her hair behind her ear and slowly shook her head.

"Not now, Neal. Just let me make this point. The point is, I couldn't relax. I couldn't calm down. Why? Because every time I looked at those pictures-those movies-I couldn't shake the truth out of my head. I was literally nitpicking every aspect of _Beauty and the Beast! _Not to mention I can't get it out of my skull that Gold should be a tiny skinny gnome with a pin hat and long, scraggly white beard." Neal snickered and moved his hand over his mouth.

"Yes," he laughed, "I had a difficult time with that one myself." He cleared his throat and looked out the door. "Still, I thought you'd cope with that reality by now. Clearly they're all different than they were in the made up fairy tales. I'm past it all."

"Yeah but you're different."

"Different how?" He crossed his arms and tilted his head as she threw her hands into the air and rushed over to the sack. "You grew up knowing those as your whole life, I grew up also knowing them to be my life."

"They were your reality-my fantasy. I always _dreamed_ of the things every girl dreams about. So sure, I should be happy about this, but finding out that not only are all your fantasies real…but lies?" She took a deep breath and waited for Neal to walk over. When he did sit beside her she was able to relax, knowing she had someone to let all this out onto-only because he'd been the one person in her past that would truly get it. "Neal, I was thrust into this mess. I didn't have time to fully process and go 'oh hey my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming'."

"True."

"No, no, at most I got to process: Oh shit! The evil queen is real, has adopted my birth child, and every single fairy tale I grew up loving is real!' Not to mention, they were my escape from harsh realities of life, and now?" She lifted her hand, sweeping her bangs from her eyes as her lips fell into a grim expression. "Let me just say, when your fantasyland becomes reality and to find that they are not as happy as you dreamt about in your childhood…"

Her body tensed and her eyes moved to the remains of the once loved _Peter Pan _storybook. "With you knowing how bad some of my foster homes were, let me make a statement you might understand: Some of the little experiences I've had up to this point make the most abusive foster parent seem like a saint."

"Ouch." He cringed as Emma narrowed her eyes and reached for another storybook. "Well burning the books and movies aren't going to help you get used to everything." When he took the book from her, she growled and tried to swipe it back. He glanced down at it and raised an eyebrow at the childlike doodles on the front cover. "Sleeping Beauty…and I see you've written a scathing message to one of your foster moms?" His lip curved into a smirk and she was quick to swipe the book away.

"Give me that!" She clutched the book in her hands and gazed down at it, recalling the vivid but painful memory of a nine year old girl running into her bedroom after watching her foster mom at the time dosing up with heroin and attempting to stab her with the used needle. She immediately turned to the first book she grabbed, _Sleeping Beauty_, and read it to the point she didn't even remember what happened. "It's personal to me…"

"So why burn it? You know what might help you out while also bringing some amusement to people here? Show the others these tales and see what happens." He leaned to the side and hung his arm over the top of the couch, smirking at the book. "I bet some of them will be fascinated in hearing what the world here thinks of them, and it'll be a nice way for you to-I don't know-relive your childhood fantasies while also getting used to the fact that you can actually experience those dreams in a much different, more _real_ way?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, what can it hurt? You don't have to tell them about your life if you don't want to. If anything, you can get a laugh out of some of the things."

"Well I do want to know what Regina thinks about her transforming into an old hag, or what your own dad thinks about the fact that not only should he be a gnome, but technically speaking he ought to be a big hairy beast." Neal laughed as Emma glanced to the fireplace. "I already through _Peter Pan _into the fire…"

"Sucks for Pan, then."

"I wonder what Hook will think of his Captain Hook fairy tale counterpart." She glanced over as Neal reached into the sack, seemingly searching for something. After a minute, he pulled out a faded copy of the _Peter Pan_ film.

"Seems you have a movie, so let's show him…I'm surprised you managed to start up a collection."

"When VCRs went obsolete, I wanted to preserve copies. I also went after those golden editions whenever they came out."

"Sounds fair. Every young girl wanted to be a princess, right? You get that dream and you can't stand it." She rolled her eyes and lifted her shoulders.

"Well _I _grew out of it. Besides, growing up I got sick of hearing the other girls at my schools being called Daddy's little princess." She leaned back, raising an idle brow as face grew exhausted. "Ironic as that is."

"Which by the way, how do you like your dad being Prince Charming?"

"I have…no idea-at least he's not as nauseatingly perfect as the fairy tale story."

"Can I just say, _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ Prince still beats this world's version of my father?" She laughed at the image and slowly nodded.

"Oh yes, yes it does. I can't wait to show him, actually. Maybe you're right, this could be a good idea. But first, because it's been bugging me…"

In fifteen minutes they got Hook to arrive at the house, and impatiently, he watched the cartoon film of _Peter Pan_. "Where the hell did you find this stuff?" He was leaning uncomfortably against the arm of the couch and feeling of his hair and face. "I'm not that fancy of a dresser, and Peter Pan is _not_ that friendly!"

Emma walked behind him and smiled at the cartoon. "When I was a little girl, I dreamed he'd come take me away and I'd get to fly around with Tinkerbell-it was one of my greatest fantasies. Going to Neverland kind of killed that, but it's okay." It was still nice to see the cartoon and be able to imagine Peter Pan as the lovable icon that she'd always seen him as. Though when she first heard they were going into Neverland, and that Pan was deemed a greater threat than either Gold or Regina, it crushed her at first. "Finally I've got some time to really get used to the fact that things are so different."

"So you're doing that by freaking me out?"

"Not just you, I'm going after everyone. You'll enjoy seeing some of them, I think."

Hook watched the bit about how his cartoon version lost his hand, then promptly cringed in horror. "That is _not_ what happened!"

"Just wait until you see what Gold should look like-and I wonder if he ever thought about his teacups singing." Hook looked skeptical as Neal started to laugh. Emma crossed her arms and smirked with pride. "I've already called everyone over, so…we'll be finding out what they think soon."

In an hour, people she'd invited were flocking to her door, relieved that she wasn't avoiding her any longer. Regina was there, as were her parents, Granny and Ruby, Dr. Whale, Mr. Gold and Belle, and even Grump and Archie came by. She didn't invite the whole town, just those she felt comfortable with inviting-however she did want Mr. Whale to see the Frankenstein horror movie.

"Why are we here?" Regina asked with some impatience.

"Because I wanted to share some stuff with you guys." Emma looked to Henry, who was now lounging on the couch between his two grandparents. "I've got some stories and films to share that involves all of you in a way."

"This ought to be entertaining," Neal murmured as his eyes fell onto his father. The group appeared skeptical as Emma reached into her sack. "In that bag is a bunch of surprises." Neal gave them a coy smile and moved to the nearby dining table.

"When I was a girl, moving to and from foster homes, I…loved reading fairy tales." Mary Margaret smiled calmly as Belle bounced. "They were my world away from home and I never expected them to become, well, reality-I only fantasized. I've been trying to process for a while now, and now that there's some breathing room I can-so I've decided to move from my childhood by sharing it with all of you."

"Something smells fishy here," Regina furrowed her brow and crossed her arms. "I'm not talking about Ariel, either."

"First off." She was quick to ignore the woman, wishing to move on ahead with her experiment. "The world outside Storybrooke has its own views of Princesses, Princes, Fairy Tales and the like. I grew up with this world's views-so don't be shocked when you discover how different this world views you as…"

"I'm _still_ trying to figure it out," Hook tried to twirl his moustache and huffed once he pulled his hand away and peered down at his fingers. "Okay, I look like a fancy frilly dressed freak in _Peter Pan._" The group stared at him with wide eyes and Emma slowly nodded her head.

"When I was a girl, I had a favorite princess. It was Mulan…" Mary Margaret tilted her head as Emma closed her eyes. "My foster homes weren't so great, so I liked the tough princesses that could defend themselves as opposed to the princesses that had to depend on some prince to come rescue them. Like Cinderella, Aurora, or well…" Emma looked to her mother with a heavy sigh. Her mom's eyebrows shot up and her face tightened.

"I can fight for myself."

"Not in _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs._ The world viewed you as a helpless damsel whose sole purpose was: She ate an apple given to her by a creepy old hag." Regina coughed violently and Snow's eyes grew large with horror. "In_ Regina's_ defense, the Evil Queen transformed. Mom, in yours…well, let's just watch it, okay?"

"I'm not sure I want to…" Gold laughed and made a comment about the world viewing Snow White as weak, thereby earning a glare from the woman.

"You're not in the clear either, Dad," Neal hung his arms over the chair and looked to his father in great amusement. "Just wait until you see how the world views _you_." Gold raised an eyebrow and Neal leaned his head into his palm. "Do you happen to have any lawn gnomes in your shop, by the way?"

"No…"

"Ah well. Are you also, by any chance, Irish?"

"Of course not." Gold's brow furrowed and he quickly shook his head. "What is your point?"

"This," Emma pulled out a small storybook and handed it to Gold. It contained vital information about him. He handled it with great care and studied the pages carefully. His face was slowly growing pale as Belle cupped her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Oh also….Mr. Gold…Do you by any chance know anything about a big brown hairy beast that once was a prince which a witch cursed with being a beast until he found true love?"

"N-No…"

Neal covered his face with his hand, snickering as Emma removed another book from the bag. This contained a beautiful brunette princess in a long yellow dress standing hand in hand with a monster. "Beauty and the Beast…Princess Belle was my second favorite princess because she was book smart." Belle beamed with pride and Snow sank further into her seat. "Please don't take offense, Mom, this was a long time before I knew you."

"Well did you at least _like_ the story?" David asked. Emma cleared her throat and opened the book, not wanting to answer. David frowned and Snow shook her head. "Going to take that as a 'no'."

"She already said she didn't like the damsel princesses," Regina slid her hands along the top of the couch and narrowed her eyes on the television set. "What else is new?"

"Other than _Little Red Riding Hood_ where the wolf eats Grandma?" Ruby's eyes widened as Granny slowly looked towards her daughter. "Followed by Red herself…'What big eyes you have', 'the better to see you with my dear'. 'What big teeth you have'…" Ruby cupped her hands over her mouth and stumbled to the right.

"That can't be! I'd never eat granny!"

"I know, that's what throws me off. A lot of my childhood is pretty much gone now…things are different. But Dr. Whale! I have something for you." Whale rubbed his chin as she removed a black-and-white DVD case from the bag and handed it to him. "Watch this tonight."

"What is it?" He held it up closely and hummed lightly. "'Frankenstein Monster: He Lives'? It's a horror? I don't like horror movies…"

"Ironic."

"Why is that ironic?"

"You'll see. Also something I have to question, Archie." Archie smiled politely as Emma removed a red book from her sack. "Is Cruella DeVille in town? What about Pongo's mate? The 101 Dalmatians was one of my all-time favorites." Archie looked dumbfounded and shook his head slowly.

"I don't recognize the name, unfortunately." Pongo barked and started to wag his tail, causing Archie to laugh. "But it seems as though the pup recognizes something."

"I never read 101 Dalmatians," Henry marveled, "What's it about?"

"When I was young, about your age, my foster family at the time lived next to a firehouse. I would go over there all the time and read the book to the pup that was there-we called him Patches because his spots resembled patches rather than spots. I would read the story all the time to him." She handed Henry the book with all of its scribbles. A bright smile grew on his face and he quickly opened it. "The story tells of Pongo, who, through a walk in the park meets another Dalmatian, Perdita. The two dogs unite their owners to bring them together as a couple. The dogs have a ton of puppies, all of whom become targeted by the evil Cruella De Vil-she wants to skin them for their spots to make fur coats."

"There was a song to it," Neal chuckled, "Do you remember it?"

"A what-" Snow raised an eyebrow and Emma closed her eyes as Neal stood up and tapped his foot rhythmically.

"Cruella de Vil, Cruella de Vil-if she doesn't scare you…no evil thing will." Neal tugged on his overcoat as Regina let out a subtle scoff. "To see her is to take a sudden _chill. _Oh Cruella, Cruella, she's like a spider waiting for the…kill."

"Okay that's enough Neal." Pongo whined and Regina crossed her arms over.

"Interesting sounding woman."

"One of my favorite villains, actually." Emma snapped her fingers and looked to Regina. "No offense, but I never cared for the Evil Queen." Regina's lips parted and her eyebrow rose higher. "Thought she was…boring."

"I'm not _boring!"_

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the most boring…" Emma rolled her eyes and unfolded her arms as Regina fumed. "'Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?'" Regina tapped her fingertips on her arms and pulled her lips back into a tight frown. Emma waved her fingers in the air, lifting her eyebrows as she feigned shock. "'Snow White!'"

Snow leaned into David some and looked up at Regina. "Well that doesn't sound like the reason Regina hates me."

"It's not," Regina muttered, "Or at least-I don't think…Okay that's it, I want to watch this Snow White thing."

"I want to see _Beauty and the Beast!"_ Bell proclaimed. Henry asked for the 101 Dalmatians while Ruby and Granny protested to see _Little Red Riding Hood._ Of course, her mother wanted to see _Mulan_.

David began chuckling, earning him a glare from the protestors. "For as much as you say they're boring in the film, I bet I'm not that boring, right?" Emma shifted her gaze over to Neal, who cleared his throat as Hook shook his head. Hook had just seen bits and pieces of Snow White before everyone's arrival.

"Prince Charming doesn't get much screen time, Mate. Sorry." David's jaw fell and he immediately tried to argue. "Your primary-if not only scene-was kissing the comatose Snow. Hope you like necrophilia, mate."

"Don't let her get you down," Neal laughed. Emma's eyes slanted and she slowly looked towards him, anticipating what was about to come out of his mouth. He had a sly look on his face and looked about to reveal something she'd not yet told them. "Back when she and I were together she told me she had some of the songs from Snow White memorized when she was just eight years old: Especially Snow White's 'someday my prince will come' song."

"Damn it, Neal." Snow and David grinned and Regina chuckled dryly. "I know it seems like I'm picking on that one, and I'm sorry, it's just how I felt. I didn't like Cinderella much, didn't like Sleeping Beauty all that much because they reminded me of my situation."

"And how exactly did you get _out_ of said situation?"

Her heart clenched and she caught her breath as the others eyed her peculiarly. "Ran away. My last foster dad was…a maniac." Her breath hitched for a split second and Neal frowned. Snow curled her eyebrows in concern while Regina and the others studied her tightening posture. "If anyone's worse than Gold was-worse than Pan was…it would be him."

"She tried to break into my car!" Neal remarked in a loud voice. Her eyes shot over to him and her lip curled up into a smirk.

"Your car? You already stole it from someone."

"This is true." Gold and Snow stared at them disapprovingly while Regina smacked her forehead. "Now back to the fairy tales." She was stunned that she actually enjoyed this. She was able to look back fondly on the childhood tales while at the same time accepting that they were just simple stories and the fact that they were 'real' to a degree, they didn't lose any special value at all. "We'll get to watch all of them if you want."

"I am interested," Regina muttered, "I don't have anything better to do. Certainly I don't care about looking the most beautiful in all the land." Regina swept her fingers through her hair and tucked up a sly smirk. "Especially when I know I am."

"Sure Regina, whatever you say."

Hours passed by and the house was full of chatter. Emma watched as everyone laughed and made fun of the fairy tales while commenting on whether they actually were boring or not. Neal stood beside her in the kitchen, washing his hands in the sink while Hook studied his metal hook.

"I have to hand it to you, you really got them talking," Neal stated. "I know it wasn't your intention, but still…how do you feel?"

"Better. I guess I can get used to fairy tales being real, it's just harder to look at them the same way. I think now that everyone's kind of on the same ground, it's easier to enjoy those stories again."

"Exactly."

Regina looked over and waved her hand in the air, "I just want to say that I am nowhere _near_ as ugly as the Queen in _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_. It's no wonder someone was thought to be prettier."

Ruby turned to her grandma with a devious smile. Granny squinted an eye at her and twisted her lips into a warning scowl. "Grandma! What big ears you have!"

"Don't make me slap you Ruby."

"What big _eyes_ you have, Grandma."

Granny wagged a finger at her and narrowed her eyes. "One more word out of your mouth-"

"But you're not the wolf. I find very strange how they could have mixed that story up." Ruby looked over her shoulder and hummed lightly. "They mixed up a _lot_ of stories."

"Tell me about it," Hook replied with a high brow and low whistle. "I've been thinking-they have prosthetic limbs in this world, right?" Emma leaned forward against her kitchen counter, nodding gently. "I think I'll get a prosthetic hand."

"It costs quite a bit of money."

"Either or. But first…" Hook curled a smirk and tapped his chin with the tip of his hook. "I think I'll find the author of these fairy tales, just pay him a visit to set the story straight."

"I'm pretty sure he's dead now," Neal replied flatly, "Peter Pan was written way back in the old days."

"Says the guy that should be about a hundred years old or so."

"Pan had influences in the real world-and _Peter Pan_ was written to appeal readers to him, so maybe he had to do with the twisting of all the fairy tales. Who knows."

"There was a man named Walt Disney," Emma began calmly, "He was a visionary that produced _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,__Sleeping Beauty_, _Cinderella_, and all the other works." The group looked at her with great intrigue as she filled a glass of water and proceeded to sip her drink. When she was finished, she made eye contact with them and tucked her lip into a sly smirk. "He passed away many, many years ago. Decades. Now…have any of you ever been to Disneyland?" They looked amongst each other and Henry's head perked up. "Stupid question. Of course you haven't. It's a shame you can't leave this town…"

"Why would we want to go there?" Gold asked, "It sounds like a place that we would hate."

"Everyone loves Disneyland. I was thinking of taking Henry. I personally have never been."

"Then how do you know anyone would enjoy it?"

Emma clicked her jaw and slowly looked to Neal. These people were cursed, yes, but not living in a cave. Then again, none of them had heard of these fairy tales before her arrival. "Okay, I know I said I could get used to them being real-but now it's just ridiculous."

"Can't win them all," he replied, "But sometimes ignorance truly is bliss."

"It is the happiest place on earth. I _begged_ my foster families to take me." Snow and David exchanged sorrowful glances and Emma looked on with a distraught expression. "I guess family trips are out of the question too if they just lose their memory." Her eyes fell accusingly onto Regina, who instantly held her hands up in defense.

"Don't look at me. I know I set the curse but I didn't make that rule."

"Well regardless, those storybooks are just a part of my childhood. My world away from the foster homes I'd been through." She tapped her chin and casually glanced over at Hook and Neal. "Not only did I never think I would actually date a fairy tale character-sort of-Rumple's son…having two fairy tale characters-one of which being _Captain Hook_ fighting for my attention is just-weird."

"Well Neal isn't fighting," Hook added, "So?"

"You know what? I met an old friend when I went back. Someone I met in high school, he kept me afloat while in my last foster home." Her eyebrows lifted as her expression grew smug. "You know what? He's _not_ a fairy tale character whose cartoon image I can't get out of my head or spawn of a character. He was also my first crush-he'd like to visit Storybrooke sometime….and I may just let him."

Hook's jaw dropped and Neal closed his eyes, chuckling silently. "Cold but well played, Emma." At least if she threw that card in, maybe it would give the two men enough of a hint to keep things low. She had enough to worry about, more important things than dealing with romance.

"Yes well, with that being said, I think I'll put all these storybooks in a safe place." She grabbed the sack and began collecting everything. Henry got up from the couch and started to help.

"I really enjoyed them, mom. Maybe I can read them sometime?"

"Maybe-I might buy some newer copies though. These are pretty old." Though more concerning was the fact that most of the storybooks had her childhood scribbles and drawings on them-as well as some words and phrasings that she didn't want Henry to see.

Not only were they an escape to another world, but they were a personal diary for her. "Sounds good. It was fun."

"I'll agree to that," Snow replied, "Though I have to admit that I wasn't particularly fond of my fairy tale character either. At least she somewhat resembles me…This Walt Disney guy? How much of a visionary was he?"

"Maybe he was a seer!" Gold announced with a triumphant tone. Emma shook her head and swung the full bag over her shoulder.

"And yet I never showed them Lady and the Tramp or the Lion King…I'll do that after I tell them about Disneyland." Yes, now that everything was settling down, she truly felt that she could get used to this life. At the very least, being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming was not that big of a deal after all.

Even if she deviously wished that Gold could find a way to zap them, and everyone else, to their appropriate ages. Then, that was a tale for another time.

* * *

First and foremost, no ship wars please. This is not about shipping, this was meant to be both humorous and serious at the same time and geared towards a thought that I had a while back. I hope you enjoyed the oneshot, as well as the reactions of the people in the group.


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